Labour MP Naz Shah in the CommonsA Labour MP had the Commons in stitches as she mocked a Reform UK MP’s controversial comments about non-white actors in TV adverts.
Sarah Pochin sparked a furious backlash last year after claiming it “drives me mad when I see adverts full of black people, full of Asian people”.
The Runcorn and Helsby MP said she blamed “the woke liberati that goes on inside the arty-farty world”.
Party leader Nigel Farage avoided punishing Pochin over her “ugly” remarks but admitted he was “unhappy” with her.
Today, in the first speech after the King’s Speech – where the monarch sets out the government’s legislative plans for the upcoming parliamentary session – Naz Shah tore the right-wing party apart over Pochin’s comments.
The Bradford West MP began by saying she was “humbled and honoured” that she had been “given this opportunity to be the first ever Muslim to propose this loyal address in this chamber. ”
She said: “And of course, seeing the meltdown of the far-right online.”
“I must assure them, this is not a takeover,” she added, amid laughter throughout the chamber.
“It is, as per convention, a joke, but if seeing black and brown people on TV makes you feel sick my speech is going to make you vomit,” she said, to cheers across the House.
Shah’s address was part of a longstanding tradition delivered at the start of the debate over the King’s Speech.
She was one of two government backbenchers chosen to essentially thank the monarch for his speech before MPs start to debate its contents.
The UK parliament website said: “They are normally a contrasting pair with very different constituencies, one a relative newcomer and the other a long-serving MP.
“By convention, their speeches are not contentious and contain both humour and flattering references to their constituencies.”
Shah, who has been an MP since 2015, gave a speech just before fellow Labour MP, Harlow’s Chris Vince.
‘Not a takeover.’
"Not an act of domination"
And "if seeing black and brown people on TV makes you sick, this is going to make you vomit"
BRAVO @NazShahBfd hits back at far-right rhetoric with humour and class bringing together the Labour Party and the house down with laughter. pic.twitter.com/OaJCstKpya
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